Students flee as three people shot at US college

College shooting ... an injured male a put into an ambulance. Photo: Reuters

A shooting on a Texas community college campus has wounded three people and sent students fleeing for safety as officials placed the campus on lockdown.

Harris County Sheriff’s Major Armando Tello said authorities had detained a person of interest. He did not provide any details about the people who were wounded, such as whether they were students or included the person who was arrested.

‘‘The situation is under control,’’ Lone Star College director Jed Young told CNN.

‘‘At first glance it appears to be (a dispute) between two people,’’ he said, adding that ‘‘there were two students we believe were shot in the crossfire’’.

Police are searching for a second shooter, but he is not believed to be on campus anymore, Young said.

The evacuation of the sprawling campus is nonetheless continuing as a precautionary measure, he said.

Television footage showed people lying on the ground and at least one person being loaded into an ambulance on the campus of Lone Star College near Houston.

Witnesses reported that a male was brought out of the library handcuffed to a stretcher, according to KHOU news.

The school’s official Twitter feed said the shooting was between two people and that the situation was under control. It had issued an alert on its website earlier, telling students and faculty to take immediate shelter or avoid the campus.

Efren Huerta replied to the post with the comment: ‘‘i was walking to my next class. and i heard about 4-6 shots. it happened in the library i think! i just took off running like never before.’’

Dozens more offered prayers to the victims and expressed dismay with comments like ‘‘this is crazy!’’ and ‘‘this is sick!’’

Aerial footage from local television stations showed police cars and ambulances parked on the Lone Star College campus about 32 kilometres north of downtown Houston. Emergency personnel could be seen tending to people on stretchers, while others ran from a building led by officers.

Mark Smith, spokesman for the Harris County Emergency Corps, said four people were taken to two hospitals. He said at least two had gunshot wounds, and one appeared to have had a heart attack related to the shooting.